Third Westmoreland doctor charged with drug distribution

Another Westmoreland County doctor has been charged with illegally distributing drugs, the third such indictment in the past two weeks.

U.S. Attorney Scott Brady announced Thursday that a 54-count indictment was returned against Dr. Milad Shaker, 49, of Greensburg.

According to the indictment, Shaker illegally dispensed controlled substances including Vicodin, Percocet and Tramadol in exchange for sexual favors, either in person or via text messaging.

He also is charged with health care fraud for fraudulent claims submitted to Highmark and Aetna health plans in order to receive payments to cover the cost of the unlawfully prescribed medication.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on each of 36 counts in the indictment, up to five years each on 16 of the counts, and up to 10 years each on two fraud charges.

Dr. Nabil Jabbour, 67, of Hempfield, was charged in late September with unlawfully dispensing buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone or Subutex; and Dr. Mamdouh El-Attrache, 73, of Mt. Pleasant is accused of fraudulently using his office on East Main Street to provide illegal prescriptions over six years.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MurrysvilleStar.